A note of thanks

[pecunium]

I write this Lj for me. Which means I get to indulge my hobbyhorses and put half-formed thoughts out here. Those who don't like it are free to not read it.

But I like interaction. I enjoy comments, and those of you who choose to comment have been pretty good about it.

More to the point, for whatever reason (perhaps I am small, perhaps I lack the ability to irritate) I don't get much in the way of trolls. I get some. The odd piece of hate mail, but nothing like the things I see when I go out into the wider blogosphere.

And for that I'm grateful. The hatemail's not such a big deal. I got my first piece of that sort of thing when I was in college, I've gotten as used to it as I can, and it's easier to deal with now, because digging up my actual location is harder. When people can drop off hate mail in person, one knows they can lie in wait.

What I don't get much of is the dittoehead sort of stuff.

I was reading the comments at The Washington Monthly and one of the local "gadflies" tried to take me to task.

After a couple of posts trying to point out his errors (some of them plain failures of comprehension, as I said I had done things, and he said that was impossible) I gave up. His repsonse to arguement...."You're a Liberal."

Which may be true (I tend to think of it as progressive, and somewhat centrist, but I'll entertain the idea that I'm wrong in how I label myself). But what I believe has nothing to do with the merits of the facts I present. It may (in fact it certainly does) color how I interpret those facts, but the facts don't change.

When my statement of why I think the facts mean a thing is, "refuted" with a response not different in value from, "And so's your old man," well I give up.

I don't get that here, for which I am grateful.

Thank you all.

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

It's because, IMO, this sort are so small and weak that the only way they can feel big is to hang with what they see as the stronger bully.

If they were smart and adept at debate, they could actually have a discussion. But they can't, so they resort to this. It's not about you, it's about them, and their need to feel big and strong and important.

[jmhm.livejournal.com]

Those aren't the trolls. Those are the community, and they're at Political Animal for a reason.

This is the blog of someone whose sua culpa for supporting the war was that all the credible people were for it and the people who were against it weren't credible.

Even if you accept the trope that this sort of reasoning is a sufficient substitute for a few moments of analytical thought, think back on who was for it and who was against it.

Kevin:liberal as Joe Klein:Democrat

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Well, there is that. I don't spend much time at Kevin's place, and haven't looked at comments in ages (not since I was riding hither and yon fighting the dragons of those who like torture), largely because I recalled it as being that sort of place... not a good signal to noise ratio.

Having been distracted by other things in the run up to the war (like packing for it) I missed the specifics of his opinions on the justifications, but yes... I think him more a proceduralist, and crappy/carpy tactical type, that reading him isn't high enough on my list to make it a regular part of the day.

TK

[jmhm.livejournal.com]

Having been distracted by other things in the run up to the war (like packing for it)

Well, you know, that kind of background would taint the purity of your strategic thinking sufficiently that you aren't really qualified to discuss it either.

It isn't just the right that thinks reality is what appears in Certain US publications.

[chuuchuu.livejournal.com]

Greenwald's post on what it takes to be labelled "a liberal" - which is to say, very little.
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/02/are-bush-critics-labeled-liberal.html

[enname.livejournal.com]

Well it apparently only takes using your brain for more than two seconds in order to not sound like a troll, let alone actually engaging it for extended discourse. That 'gadfly' was doing nothing more than sticking his proverbial fingers in his ears and humming loudly. Personally I find it a lot more interesting to actually attempt a conversation that involves rather than listen to myself pontificate, or blow hot air about.

[intelligentrix.livejournal.com]

Someone I know recently posted the following quote, which I find quite apropos: "You can't use reason to get someone out of a position they didn't use reason to get into". (I may be paraphrasing here, as I couldn't find the original.)



And a minor quibble (very minor): it is not necessary to put a comma in front of everything with quote marks, especially when you are not indicating speech.